There are currently several methods for automated manufacture of high volume food products. The advantages of these systems over conventional, manual food preparation and creation are speed of manufacturing, portion control, and low cost of final product. These methods produce products of the same configuration with minimal opportunity for customization. These methods are also designed for large scale production and not really suited for local restaurants and individual proprietors due to their price, size, and lack of need for high volume.
As an example, local pizza chains and proprietors produce pizza by hand in a build-to-order process. This process allows the customer to custom design their pizza, to some degree by, selecting specific toppings, crust, etc. The process of customization requires operators to build the custom pizza by hand which creates variability in the quantity of material as well as the quality and even distribution of material. All factors which affect price and the customer experience. There is also the hygiene aspect of creating a hand built pizza which is reliant on the diligence of the operator's cleanliness. Further, while there are semi-automated pizza and food component delivery systems, there remains a need for automated pizza and other food creation systems in the area of customized, hygienic, volume consistent production. Another factor in dispensing some food ingredients is that the materials are difficult feed in a controlled manner due to how they are presented. As another example, cheeses, especially mozzarella, tend to clump and stick together making it difficult to get even distribution. On sausage products, they are difficult to dispense in the pre-sliced configuration as they tend to stick together and are difficult to dispense one at a time. Further, while these technological advances have allowed for automated application of food ingredients, there remains a need in the art custom designed and automated assembly of food items.